Iraq's prime minister has claimed the Wikileaks release of documents showing widespread abuse in his jails is "politically motivated".

Nouri al-Maliki seemed on course to form a new coalition government earlier this month, despite coming only second in a general election in March.

But he has been severely embarrassed by accusations that he has presided over a regime of torture and murder.

The documents also highlighted a campaign of assassination and bombing conducted at the peak of Iraq's civil conflict by his prospective coalition partners, the militant Sadrist group, with Iranian backing.

"There are some political interests behind the media campaign who are trying to use the documents against national leaders, especially the prime minister," a statement from the prime minister's office said.

The statement said there was a "question mark" over the timing of the release of documents, though it did not make clear the nature of the conspiracy it was suggesting.

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The allegations outlined in the leaked documents go back long before Mr Maliki took office in 2006.

But part of the success he has claimed in bringing down the level of violence since he came to power has rested on his projection of a "strongman" image. He has fought militias, including the Sadrists to whom he is now allied, and formed special security units to target suspected insurgents.

The opposition Iraqiya movement said the report showed the danger of giving Mr Maliki too much power.

"Maliki wants to have all powers in his hands," Maysoun al-Damaluji, a spokeswoman, said. "Putting all the security powers in the hands of one person who is the general commander of the armed forces has led to these abuses and torture practices in Iraqi prisons."

Ironically, given the worldwide outrage directed at the United States over the revelations, it is Ayad Allawi, Iraqiya's leader and the closest to Washington of the leading Iraqi politicians, who has most to gain from their publication.

Iraqiya won the most seats in the March election, 91 to 89 for Mr Maliki's State of Law party, but has had difficulty finding enough coalition partners to mount a viable challenge.

Its followers sought to take advantage by calling for a full inquiry.

"The Iraqi government bears responsibility for investigating the correctness of the reports," said Safia al-Suheil, a leading Iraqiya figure. She added that scandals such as the Abu Ghraib prison abuse, which happened when Mr Allawi was prime minister in the years after the 2003 invasion, were fully exposed in their time.

Iraq's parliament has now broken the world record for going longest after an election without forming a government. The country's supreme court on Sunday ruled that the parliament had breached the country's constitution by failing to sit since a brief session in June.

The temporary speaker, Fouad Masoum, said he would call a new session within days and said he hoped the ruling would catalyse the formation of a government.